UFOcalling
Master of the Scorpion Death Lock
I know there was another thread started about Lashley defeating EY for the World Heavyweight Championship, but I felt this was a slightly different topic. If it's too similar, then I apologize in advance.
Up until EY's title win back on April 10th, he was doing more of a comedy act than anything else. I'll admit that he made me laugh, especially when he would lock up with the ref instead of his opponent. After EY beat Magnus for the title, however, they slowly made EY look more and more like a credible champion. A lot of people had gripes about that, the most common objection being that they should have built Eric up before he won the title. Granted - that's the way it's usually done, and the most logical way to make someone a credible champion.
EY started using the piledriver finish again, and I feel that made his title reign seem more legitimate. The piledriver has always been at least somewhat taboo in the wrestling business, for causing genuine injuries (some territories went as far as to outlaw it, as a shoot). Even though it's a "fake wrestling show", I could suspend disbelief and be convinced that a guy like EY could beat someone bigger than him - since he used the piledriver to finish most of his opponents off.
After losing to Lashely in his Championship rematch, it appears that EY will probably not be returning to the Main Event scene in TNA...at least not for a while. Most recently, when Magnus lost his rematch for the title, he didn't return to the title scene. The same happened to Bully Ray (after his second loss), Samoa Joe, Bobby Roode, Sabin, the list goes on. It seems that a lot of the new champions TNA create don't get more than one chance with the title, especially when they lose their title rematch (and also the "smaller" champions, and/or former XD competitors specifically).
EY held the title for a little more than two months, despite TNA catching a lot of grief at first - comparing Young's win to Daniel Bryan's WWE WHC win at Wrestlemania 30. There were beard comparisons, "underdog story" connections, even Dixie herself tried to compare EY to Bryan on twitter (why, I have no idea). EY did win the TNA title only four days after Wrestlemania, so even the most jaded fan can see why the comparisons (and/or gripes) were so prevalent.
Personally, I feel that EY did a good job as Champion. Like I already mentioned, he brought back the piledriver (which I first saw him use as the leader of "World Elite", as a heel) - and I was quite impressed seeing him perform a Death Valley Driver on Aries & Lashley at the same time (at Slammiversary, a few weeks back). I wasn't of the mind-frame that EY "deserved" a title run (as some were, similarly to Sabin's run last year), but Young as champion grew on me. His title defenses got increasingly better with each match, and he seemed genuinely passionate when delivering his promos. His reign probably happened a bit prematurely; it might have been better to see EY win the X-Division title first, then use "Option C" for his first title reign at Destination X this year (using the time in between to try and remove some of his "comedy" stigma)...but I feel Eric's "Just Crazy Enough" gimmick worked well for a relatively short reign this Spring/Summer (premature or not).
I know that Kevin Nash saw something in Eric Young, back when EY was made a member of "The Band" (before The Band fell apart, and EY went back to being a comedy wrestler). I even remember reading an interview where Nash compared EY to Shawn Michaels (I think he worded it as "someone he used to bodyguard for", or something like that). I don't think Nash ever used the exact words "future World Champion" when talking about EY, but if he's comparing him to Michaels then one would infer that from context. That comparison may have been a bit of a stretch, but I think that Nash's wrestling intuition is pretty good (even more so, now that he's older) - and he was correct in thinking that EY had/has that "killer instinct".
Given that Young lost to Lashley after invoking his rematch clause on iMPACT this week, he probably won't be given another title run (or maybe not even another title match) for quite a long time (if at all). Given that Angle said there will be a battle royal next week on iMPACT to determine the number one contender, I'd imagine that EY will be included...but I don't see him coming out on top this time. Yes, EY did win another battle royal to earn his shot against Magnus - but I can't see TNA (or any wrestling company, mind you) having the exact same outcome for yet another battle royal less than three months later. Been there, done that. Summertime seems to be when there's a bit of a lull in pro wrestling, and a lot of companies like to experiment this time of year. It seems to me that TNA's EY experiment is over (given TNA's history with former champions losing their rematch clause matches), although I could be wrong.
EY was gone from TNA for quite a while in 2013; I'd imagine he was busy filming his Animal Planet show(s) Off the Hook: Extreme Catches, and No Limits during that time. It's possible that EY was lured back to TNA with the promise of a World Title reign, and/or maybe TNA thought that they could get some crossover appeal from Animal Planet viewers. Hell, my 74 year old Dad (who has never been a wrestling fan) now knows who Eric Young is because of his AP show(s). I'd imagine that EY will be filming another season of No Limits, & maybe Off the Hook as well. Maybe that's why EY's run was cut short, but it's also likely that TNA wanted to have more of a "marquis name" as their champion for their upcoming NYC dates. We can only speculate about that.
Here are some discussion points for this thread, to help get the ball rolling:
Do you think Eric Young's title reign was meaningful (too short, too long, shouldn't have happened at all)?
Do you feel they should've taken the "comedy" gimmick off of EY for a longer period of time before giving him the strap?
Did Eric seem like a credible champion to you (at least by the end of his reign)?
Will Eric get the strap again? If so, how long will it take him to get there?
Do you think EY will leave TNA again soon, in favor of his AP hosting duties?
Will Eric win the Battle Royal next week?
Will Eric take the XD Title from Sanada before Destination X, then use Option C for another shot?
Does Eric "deserve" another shot at the title so soon (if at all), or should someone else use Option C this year (not limited only to Sanada, I mean does anyone else come to mind)?
Up until EY's title win back on April 10th, he was doing more of a comedy act than anything else. I'll admit that he made me laugh, especially when he would lock up with the ref instead of his opponent. After EY beat Magnus for the title, however, they slowly made EY look more and more like a credible champion. A lot of people had gripes about that, the most common objection being that they should have built Eric up before he won the title. Granted - that's the way it's usually done, and the most logical way to make someone a credible champion.
EY started using the piledriver finish again, and I feel that made his title reign seem more legitimate. The piledriver has always been at least somewhat taboo in the wrestling business, for causing genuine injuries (some territories went as far as to outlaw it, as a shoot). Even though it's a "fake wrestling show", I could suspend disbelief and be convinced that a guy like EY could beat someone bigger than him - since he used the piledriver to finish most of his opponents off.
After losing to Lashely in his Championship rematch, it appears that EY will probably not be returning to the Main Event scene in TNA...at least not for a while. Most recently, when Magnus lost his rematch for the title, he didn't return to the title scene. The same happened to Bully Ray (after his second loss), Samoa Joe, Bobby Roode, Sabin, the list goes on. It seems that a lot of the new champions TNA create don't get more than one chance with the title, especially when they lose their title rematch (and also the "smaller" champions, and/or former XD competitors specifically).
EY held the title for a little more than two months, despite TNA catching a lot of grief at first - comparing Young's win to Daniel Bryan's WWE WHC win at Wrestlemania 30. There were beard comparisons, "underdog story" connections, even Dixie herself tried to compare EY to Bryan on twitter (why, I have no idea). EY did win the TNA title only four days after Wrestlemania, so even the most jaded fan can see why the comparisons (and/or gripes) were so prevalent.
Personally, I feel that EY did a good job as Champion. Like I already mentioned, he brought back the piledriver (which I first saw him use as the leader of "World Elite", as a heel) - and I was quite impressed seeing him perform a Death Valley Driver on Aries & Lashley at the same time (at Slammiversary, a few weeks back). I wasn't of the mind-frame that EY "deserved" a title run (as some were, similarly to Sabin's run last year), but Young as champion grew on me. His title defenses got increasingly better with each match, and he seemed genuinely passionate when delivering his promos. His reign probably happened a bit prematurely; it might have been better to see EY win the X-Division title first, then use "Option C" for his first title reign at Destination X this year (using the time in between to try and remove some of his "comedy" stigma)...but I feel Eric's "Just Crazy Enough" gimmick worked well for a relatively short reign this Spring/Summer (premature or not).
I know that Kevin Nash saw something in Eric Young, back when EY was made a member of "The Band" (before The Band fell apart, and EY went back to being a comedy wrestler). I even remember reading an interview where Nash compared EY to Shawn Michaels (I think he worded it as "someone he used to bodyguard for", or something like that). I don't think Nash ever used the exact words "future World Champion" when talking about EY, but if he's comparing him to Michaels then one would infer that from context. That comparison may have been a bit of a stretch, but I think that Nash's wrestling intuition is pretty good (even more so, now that he's older) - and he was correct in thinking that EY had/has that "killer instinct".
Given that Young lost to Lashley after invoking his rematch clause on iMPACT this week, he probably won't be given another title run (or maybe not even another title match) for quite a long time (if at all). Given that Angle said there will be a battle royal next week on iMPACT to determine the number one contender, I'd imagine that EY will be included...but I don't see him coming out on top this time. Yes, EY did win another battle royal to earn his shot against Magnus - but I can't see TNA (or any wrestling company, mind you) having the exact same outcome for yet another battle royal less than three months later. Been there, done that. Summertime seems to be when there's a bit of a lull in pro wrestling, and a lot of companies like to experiment this time of year. It seems to me that TNA's EY experiment is over (given TNA's history with former champions losing their rematch clause matches), although I could be wrong.
EY was gone from TNA for quite a while in 2013; I'd imagine he was busy filming his Animal Planet show(s) Off the Hook: Extreme Catches, and No Limits during that time. It's possible that EY was lured back to TNA with the promise of a World Title reign, and/or maybe TNA thought that they could get some crossover appeal from Animal Planet viewers. Hell, my 74 year old Dad (who has never been a wrestling fan) now knows who Eric Young is because of his AP show(s). I'd imagine that EY will be filming another season of No Limits, & maybe Off the Hook as well. Maybe that's why EY's run was cut short, but it's also likely that TNA wanted to have more of a "marquis name" as their champion for their upcoming NYC dates. We can only speculate about that.
Here are some discussion points for this thread, to help get the ball rolling:
Do you think Eric Young's title reign was meaningful (too short, too long, shouldn't have happened at all)?
Do you feel they should've taken the "comedy" gimmick off of EY for a longer period of time before giving him the strap?
Did Eric seem like a credible champion to you (at least by the end of his reign)?
Will Eric get the strap again? If so, how long will it take him to get there?
Do you think EY will leave TNA again soon, in favor of his AP hosting duties?
Will Eric win the Battle Royal next week?
Will Eric take the XD Title from Sanada before Destination X, then use Option C for another shot?
Does Eric "deserve" another shot at the title so soon (if at all), or should someone else use Option C this year (not limited only to Sanada, I mean does anyone else come to mind)?
